Vending machine



April 9, 1935. A. E. REIMERS El AL 1,997,078

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 50, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYApril 1935. A. E. REIMERS El AL 1,997,078

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 30, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 47 6ALFRED E-RE/HERS M WALTER ;TAVENDER April 9, 1935.

A. E. RElMERS ET AL VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 50, 1932 6Sheets-Sheet 3 HLFRED v E.

ATTORNEY April 9, 1935. A. E. RElMERs El AL VENDING MACHINE OriginalFiled Jan. 50, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS ILFRED EJREINERS M44JLTER K. Tfil/E/I/DER ATTORNEY I April 9, 1935. A. E. REiMERS ET ALVENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 30, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR5TAI/ Df /q ATTORNEY April 9, 1935. A. E. REIMERS ET AL 1,997,078

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 30, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INS IR 29g 4916? WALTER k. 77; VENDER BY ATTORNEY patented Apr.9,1935 i 1,997,078

H I 1,997,07s V v VENDING MACHINE Alfred E. Reimers, Harrington Park,and Walter Y K. Tavender, Haworth, N. J., assignors, by mesne.assignments, to Automatic. Equipment, Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware v Application January 30, 1932, Serial No.589,822 1 Renewed February 16, 1934 8 Claims. (01:312-68) This inventionrelates to vending machines, Fig. 10 is a plan view 'of the carriageshowing such as may be rendered operable by the inserthe fixed andadjustable guides for thearticles. tionof a coin, and whereby the goodsare caused Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan viewof the carriage to bedelivered from the top of a stack thereof. and its mechanism.

7 Our, improvements comprehend the employ-, Fig. 12 isaside elevation ofthe carriage operatment, of a vertically movable carriage, which, ing.mechanism and brake bar." a with its supported goods, is] overbalancedby Fig. .13 is a horizontal. section showing the car- 'gravity orequivalent means that urge it up riage with itsgovernor controlled brakemechawardly, and whose speed of travel is retarded by nism and brakebar; r governor controlling means. Fig. 14 is a perspectiveelevationalview of the 10 Also our improvements include means whereby weightcontrol,..the weights being in a suspendedan uppermost article on thestack thereof liberposition duringthe loading operation. ates a gravityactuable'brake when said article Fig. 15 is a sectional view through theweights has risen to its delivery position, thereby enabling insimilarposition. to Fig. 14, with the weight.

15 said brake to perform its function of arresting release mechanismabout to act. 15.

'further movement of the carriageuntil such ,Fig. l6is a sectional viewsimilar to Fig. 15

article has been removed. after the weight release mechanism has acted.

Our invention comprises in brief a number of Fig. '17 is a sectionalview through the weights dispensing units for articles of merchandise,showing the means for lifting the weights alone,

which may be enclosed in a suitable-cabinet, each and unit vin tommodate a separate stack of Fig. 18- is a detailed view of theinterlocking such articles and having means whereby a topf .t ht e v m tarticle ay be d sp s d as through the In saiddrawingslet l-indicateacabinet having media of a coin slot and a pull'rod or its equivaanupper exposure provided with a cover 2 of l a h f t p ratin units in luds a a glass or other transparent material, saidcabinet va us frame m n acarriage to supp t the containing the operating units, and having coinStack Of a s, av y means for urging the slots 3 and pull rod handles 4respectively for carriage p y, means for releasing the gravsaid units,the cabinet also having a common y a s While ad h a ria a governorreceiving trough 5 forthe dispensed articles.

I to retard the carriage travel speed, a carriage Th b 6 i hown assupporting vertical 30 brake, means controlled by the stack in risingframe members 1 3 and 9 the member 3 having for permitting the brake tofunction, and means amok 1 fumed on one side thereof. The operable forthe delivery of the topmost article. 1 1' 8 also serves as a, guide fora, carriage ll,

other features and advantages of 0111 invenwhich slides verticallythereon, said carriage havticn W l hereinafter pp ing a frame thatincludes a base member I2, 35

In he dr channel walls l3, l3',;and an upper plate or Fi r 1 s a p p vview f an apparatus table 14, the latter'serving to support a stack ofwhich contains several operating units. dibl ti les, fl'wo pairs ofangle brackets ig- 2 is a front elevation o a di p unit. I5pivotallycarry two sets of rollers l6 that are 3 IS a Side elevation ofa t which is in respectively incontact with opposite faces of the 40process of being loaded with a stack of articles frame member a, and i bt l pivotally to be Vendedcarry two sets of rollers l1 that arerespectively Fi 4 is a pp si sid evation shcwingthe in contact with:opposite sides of said member a, un t oaded d in readiness forOperation. these rollers I6 and I1 constituting between them Fig-5 is asimilar elevation to at of F ut anti-friction means to facilitate thetravel of 45 omitting the Stack 9 articles the carriage. The respectivesets of rollers I6, 6 is a View Similar to 4 Showing the H, are spacedapart vertically, and the axle l8 parts inv p n m r to F 5 bu with h forthe upper. set carries a pinion [9 which is in unit partly loaded. meshengagement with the rack l0. Fig. 7 is. a perspective elevation showingthe Since it is desirable to retard the travel spee 50 carriage, thebrake bar and brake actuating finof the carriage we employ a fly-ballgovernor ers. having the pivotal expanding members 20, car- Fig 8 is aperspective detailed view of a part of ried by a horizontal wheel 2|,mounted on a the l t ea pivot 22 that extends upwardly from the base l2,

55. 5 Fig. 9 is a detail of the front guide bar.' in which it isjournalled, said wheel 2| having a central, upwardly extending shaft22', that carries a horizontally disposed bevel gear 23, which is inmesh engagement with a vertically disposed gear 24, mounted on a shaft25, said shaft 25 also carrying a pinion 25, that meshes with a largergear 26, which: is fast-upon theshaftlll,

to rotate with the pinion l9. Withthi's train of gears the rotativespeed of pinion I9 induced by the travel of the carriage imparts agreatly accelerated rotative speed to the wheel Zlgwhosee fly-balls 20,in their radial expansion press their friction contacts 21 against theopposed channel base surface 28 to therebyretard or control l the speedof rotation and-hence.rthe vertical travel of the carriage.

As means for urging upwardly the carriage bearing a stack of articlesweemp oy one or more weights 29, seated upon a platform 30," and acab1e'3 l which passes over a pulley 32, :journalled in an upper framemember 33, isengaged at one end with the carriage, as at-34, and at itsother end is provided witha post that'rides through a hole 36inplatfo'rmioand through a cavity 31 formed in theweights, saidpost35'being connected at its lower end with'a plate "that is adapted toprovide a seat for thexweight carry weights are supported ontheplate"38,*and"are' held thereby ina horizontal plane. But, seeingthat' the weights and their platform 30'' are disposed at one side ofthe member 9, "and thatthe orifice 4| in platform 3| is the onlylmeansof association between said platform; and member, therefore, whentheplate 33 becomes disassocbated from platform 3|,thereby said weights"will f cant the platform and cause the -edges of *the orifice therein tofrictionally bind'the-platform' in a fixed position, upon member 9,"as*shown in Figs. 3 and 15-.

' The-carriage ca'nthen' be :freely lowered; for' reloading. Inorder-that the weights may not slide off the platform, whencantedysaid'platform may have a stud "to engage a recess 43 in*the*bottom weight, and succeeding weights may have equivalent means ofinterconnection? The cable is provided at one end "with 'a block M thathas two oriflceslifor-slidable engagement with a pairof parallel-"guiderodslfi, that are extended betweenbra'okets"(secured respectively tothelower and upper ends" of frame member 9. Said cable 40,- whichhasahandle 40' at'its other end,is passed over a-pulley- 48, journalled inthe frame 'member 33; and is adapted to be operated manually for thepurpose of drawing the weights upwardly when lowering the carriageforreloading: l

The block 44," which-is capable -of'-"passing through aperture 39inlplate 38;when drawn upwardlyby cable 40,-will engage platform 30,"and by continued effort will raise; said platform from plate 38,whereby the weights, 'when' released, will becomecanted intheir'interl'ocked position with respectto guide bar 9 for loadingpurposes. But when the plate 38'is drawn up to and against platform 30'by'cablel3 l thenthe carriage will resume. its travel under theinfluence .of they weights; p

The article dispensing or.-kick-.oif .means em.

unit, where it is provided with the handle 4.

Slide member 49 carries a. curved foot 56 that projects forwardly, and,in the'normal position 0 of the slide, which is in a vertical planeatthe rear ofthe stack ofarticles A, the free, upwardly curved end offoot 56 lies behind and pro: jecting above the topmost article when thestack is raised to its height. limit and said topmost 15 article is inreadiness for delivery. Also the foot .56 carries an adjustable stud 51,projecting below *said foot, to lie behind the topmost article so thatwhen rod 54 is pulled forwardly it' will engage the rear end of saidarticle and draw it out- 20 wardly for delivery. r a

It is necessary-to provide automatic means for halting the rise of thestack when the topmostarticle thereon has reached its deliv'eryposition,

wherefore we have devised braking means that 2 co-act' with the wheel 2|to stop the rotation thereof,- and in consequence causing-a cessation ofmovement through thegear-train, thus arrest-" ing the carriage.-'

In carrying out this'phase of my:inv ention, "we 6:;

place a brake band 58 aboutthe peripheryiof wheel 2I anchoring said bandas at SSQand con necting its. other end with one-arm=ofa bell crankfill, that is pivoted at H, thefree arm of said bell-crank havingcontacting'relation with a 5? vertically: disposed brake bar 62-.- I rSaid brake bar, at its lower end, is pivotally? engaged :with a link '63thatispivoted-toa base memberikpand at itsupper end-is piv'oted toalink:65,iwhosezfree end carries a weight ifii the" function of saidweight being to rotate-to partly compensate the weight of brake bar 62andassociated elements;.thereby facilitating the" raisingot-bar 62;while said bar is at' the same time shifted into another,- parallel,verticalplane, said band.- isfree from wheel 2| and thereforethe travel.of the carriage isunimpeded, but when said::brake. bar: 62 has beenshifted to the full line-position thereof in said Fig. 13', 'then it hasallowed a weight 68 to fall, said weight beingcarried by an arm 69,pivotedwat 10',:-and said"arm having a rearward hook portion 11- thatlies in the path ;of' movement of the free arm'of belFcrank 60. Thus,with brake bar 62 "shifted as stated, whereby it is removed frompontactwith bellcrank ,'thereby weight 68 ls-free to fall,and in 69 soifallingit co-acts by its hook I [with bell-crank '60 and causes the brake bandto fricti6nally:en'-" gage wheel 2 l.

As thearti'cles borne-by 'the carriage near the upper limit:oftheirxtravel'thez topmost article said bar 11- extending-from: a.sleeve )1 8,;mounted on-a stud 19 which projects froin'a boss 80, and istensionally heldthereto byaspring 8l whlch lies between sleeve 18 andthe manipulating head 82' of stud T9, sleeve I8 and -boss'805havingnotch and toothint'e'rengaging means 83, to prevent relative rotation.The boss 8ll e'xtendsforwardly from a bracket-which is in theform of achannel 84, whose upper flange 84:isinclined forwardly downward, forapurposeto be referred to hereinafter, and saidzchannel, at itsrearward'portion, is connected to the brake bar 62, by which. bar thechanneland its associated parts are carried: 'From the foregoingdescription of'parts' and their. interrelation it will appear that asthe topmost article of a risingzstacki'comes in contact with fingers 12thereby said fingers and. conseduently channel 84 wil1 be elevatedthrough carriage, intthe' manner previously described.

Withthe 'carriage'and'its supported stack .thus at rest,-then. ther-pullrod 54 -may be pulled forwardlyby'its handle 4, thus enablingstud51, on finger 56,:carried .by-slide-block 49', to'engage the rear ofthetopmo'st article and topull it off the stack, fondelivery; I.

A weight 85, having v.a strand =86 that'passes over a pulley 81 andengages the block 49, serves to automatically return said. blockpreliminary to ai'isucceeding delivery ::of another topmost article.

The lever 88, shown as pivoted at 89 to frame 5|, carries a pin 90 whichis adapted to engage under the flange84 when said lever is drawnforwardly, to thereby in a manual operation, lock the brake bar 62 inits elevated, shifted position with the carriage halted.

At 9| appears a front guard for the stack, which guard is to lie belowthe delivery position of the topmost article, to thereby prevent thedragging forward of the next adjacent article when the topmost one isbeing delivered. Guard 9| is mounted on a screw 92 that is threadedthrough a boss 93 at one end of said guard, and said screw is revolublein spaced lugs 94, 95 that project from the frame at one side of theunit.

The articles A, which may be in the form of packages, or otherwise, arenot limited as to their height or thickness, but accordingly thereto thefront guard 9| may be adjusted by turning the screw 92, to shift saidguard either up or down.

In the instance of a number of units, placed side by side in a cabinet,the frames of adjacent units may provide supporting means for theopposite ends of the guards, as indicated in Fig. 9.

Vertical guide members for the stack of articles on carriage table M areindicated at 96, 91, and may be adjusted to co-act with stacked articlesof varying widths and lengths. For this purpose the table 14 has thearcuate edge 98 clearance for adjustment of the rear guide 96, and thearcuate slot clearance 99 for adjustment of the lateral guide 91.

The lug I00, projecting from sleeve 18 serves as a finger pull forreleasing said sleeve from its engagement at 83, whereupon said sleevecan be rotated to throw the fingers 12 out of the vertical path abovethe carriage, for loading and reloading purposes.

At IOI we have indicated a pivotal pawl, which may be weighted andserve, until released, as a lock to prevent the operation of pull rod54.

Variations within the spirit and scope of our invention are equallycomprehended by theforemost article in rising to its-delivery position,-for,

shifting; said brake bar to 'thereby cause the brake to be applied. 9

governor means including a pinion in engagement with, said rack, alsoagear train and av wheel rotatable thereby,1a brakei band ,for saidwheel, a bell-crank to operate said brake band, a brake bargthatisshiftable both vertically and laterally, stack engagingmeans carried bysaid brake-bar in spaced opposition to the, topmost article on arisingstack, and aweighted arm urging said bellcranksto apply saidbrakeband, said brake bar in one position engaging said bell-crank tohold said brake band released from said wheel, said stack engaging meanswhen met by said topmost article in the rise of the carriage, and risingtherewith, thereby shifting the brake bar out of engagement with saidbell-crank, and permitting the weighted arm to apply the brake band,thus arresting the carriage.

3. The combination, in a vending machine, of a vertically movablecarriage, a table thereon adapted to support a stack of articles, saidtable provided with arcuate clearances, and vertical guides adjustablewith respect to said clearances to co-act with supported articles ofvarying widths and lengths.

4. The combination, in a vending machine, having a frame, of a carriageadapted to support av stack of articles, means for urging said carriageupwardly, guide means for said carriage, means for retarding its travelspeed, a pulley mounted in an upper position on said frame, weights tooverbalance said carriage, a cable connecting said weights and carriageover said pulley, and means for suspending said weights released fromsaid cable whilst loading said carriage.

5. The combination, in a vending machine, having a frame, of a carriageadapted to support a stack of articles, means for urging said carriageupwardly, guide means for said carriage, means for retarding its travelspeed, a pulley mounted in an upper position on said frame, weights tooverbalance said carriage, a cable connecting said weights and carriageover said pulley, a second pulley mounted on said frame, and a handledcable thereon provided with means for engaging said weights, wherebysaid weights may be lifted to a suspended position, released from thecarriage engaging cable.

6. The combination, in a vending machine, having a frame, of a carriageadapted to support a stack of articles, means for urging said'carriageupwardly, guide means for said carriage, means for retarding its travelspeed, stacked weights to overbalance said carriage, said weightshavingan 4- i aperture thereflimuah; .aplatform :1 ion: weights, saidplatform havingzorifldoszcthere through, a fixed vertical guidememheitextended through" onemtrsaid; oriflcesiaa pulley mounted in anuppers'positionaon saidtrame; a --;cable. ens

passing -'ovemsa.id: pulie'm a .plate-xha'vmzloriflces thenethrough;whereof one corifice. :receives: said guide member,:said plately nzbeneath plat-x:

formand having meansotz-connectiomwithxsaid cablethrou'gh an orifice inaidplattorm; a second cable, provided with. a :handle at onenend and vpassing over a second pulley; alsomounted-in said frame, both saidcableslpassingithrough the-cavity in said weights; and alignedoflflces'in said: plat-'1 i'ormtand plate; a block zengagingnthe othen end "ofsaid second cable, means tor -said,

in said plate tol engage said platform for raising said weightsto adesired elevation when loading block whereby it'may be drawnthroughan-orinoe the carriage, said weights; being disposed at one side oftheirguid'e member, -t hereby calmsii'ig tho edges" of the guide memberI containin'g oriflce in the platform to frictionally' suspendsaid platform andweights as they beomne canted over by their'own gravity.

7. "The combination, in a vendin'g machine} having a frame, of avertically movable carriage adapted to carry a stack oi! articles; meansto urgesaid carriage upwardlypgoyenior means to retard the travel speedof' said cai rialgwa shittable brake bommbm said'trame', :a braketoaeoeaot with maid governoncmeanaaowabieqthrmmmthe medimnotsaidibrakezbantoactuate. said brain,- and -stack=ensasim=meana carriedby said :brake bar,.-actuable3by.:;the V-topmost article in rising; to

its; delivery "mtion'gi 02': shining: 531d brake; bar toAhex-ebycammthembrahe tube applied.

- .oombinationnin a Nendina machine, of aarerticaliymoyablelcarriaa1adapted to carry-a stacks-oi articles; meanstosurzeyrsaid' carriage upwardly,;a tvertiealmaekigovemormeanszcamed bysaid; carriagesto retardwits. travel speed, said- :overncnmeana beinaconnected ;to rashsa brakerbandim oo-aot with; said now :means, a tooperate: said .-;brake:

band,.:a;braker-ban that isi'sidttable :bothfwertte caily and latmally,stacknngalinmmeans canied ALFRED 'E.RE1ME .1;v WAIlTER KL; TAVENDER. -f

byisaidbralcebanin spaced 7

